PREVIEWING NEXT WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State prepares for a spring break trip to Florida for four non-conference double headers. 
•SMSU's competition includes Rollings (FL) on March 10 at 6 p.m., Florida Tech on March 11 at 2 .m., Tampa (FL), on March 12 at 3 p.m., and finishing with Eckerd (FL) on March 13 at 5 p.m.
•All games are to be played at the opposing teams home field.
•SMSU opened the season going 4-0 at the Dragon/Beaver battle facing four conference opponents for non-conference games. 
•SMSU will open conference play on Tuesday, March 26 hosting Sioux Falls. 
•All game times are CENTRAL. 

    GAME COVERAGE
•Live stats will be available for fans at smsumustangs.com.
•Updates can also be found by following @SMSUSoftball on Twitter. 

    PREVIEWING THE MUSTANGS
•SMSU continues the 2019 season coming off of a 4-0 start at the West St. Paul Dome on Feb. 12-13 against conference opponents for non-conferences games. 
•Senior pitcher Athena Golling and sophomore outfielder Bailey Johnson both earned NSIC weekly honors with Golling earning NSIC Pitcher of the Week and Johnson, NSIC Player of the Week. 
•Head Coach, Bailey Bouman, enters her first season at the helm of the SMSU softball program and welcomes a roster of 12 players, led by five seniors and welcomes seven freshman.  

    FIVE SENIORS
•SMSU is led by seniors, Abbie Decker, Shelby Crank, Athena Golling, Sara DeSmet, and Alex Reak. 
•Decker, a center fielder, opened the 2019 season hitting .333 with four hits, including a double and a home run. 
•Crank, a pitcher/infielder, holds a 4.67 ERA with after one game started in 2019. In three innings pitched, Crank gave up four hits and allowed one walk, and one strike out.  
•Golling holds a 0.58 ERA with two wins on her record after throwing two complete games. Golling tied her career-high 11 strikeouts against Bemidji State, she recorded 15 strikeouts in the two games and allowed one earned run. 
•DeSmet, an outfielder, hit .500 with one hit on two ABs. DeSmet doubles to score one RBI and scored two runs. 
•Reak, an infielder/designated hitter, hit .556 with five hits with nine ABs. Reak recorded two RBIs with five total bases. 

    HEAD COACH BAILEY BOUMAN
•Head coach, Bailey Bouman, enters her first season as head coach. 
•Bouman is a 2014 graduate of Sioux Falls where she played basketball and softball. 

    SERIES HISTORY
•SMSU trails the series with Rollins (FL) 0-3 after dropping a double-header last season and dropping a game in the 2003 season. 
•The Mustangs haven't faced Florida Tech since the 2003 season with the only game played in series history. SMSU trails 0-1 after a 1-0 shutout loss on March 8, 2003. 
•SMSU has faced Tampa the last two seasons on the spring break trip. Tampa has won all four games played versus SMSU after dropping a double header last season. 
•SMSU faced Eckerd three times last season as Eckerd leads the series 2-1. SMSU split the double header on March 4, with a 1-0 shutout victory in St Petersburg, Florida. 

    NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•Sophomore outfielder Bailey Johnson earned NSIC Player of the Week, announced on Feb. 19. 
•This is Johnson's first time receiving the conference honor. 
•Johnson hit .700 with seven hits in 10 at bats with two doubles and a home run. She leads the team in batting average (.700), slugging percentage (1.200), on base percentage (.636), hits (7), doubles (2), and total bases (12). She played in the outfield and served as the designated hitter during the four games. 
•In the season opener versus MSU Moorhead, Johnson finished 3 for 3 with two runs scored, a stolen base and one RBI to help SMSU earn a 7-2 victory. She also had a two-run double in SMSU's win over BSU. She closed the week with two hits, including a home run, a double, two runs scored and an RBI, in a 9-1 victory over MSU Moorhead. 

    NSIC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
•Senior pitcher Athena Golling earned NSIC Pitcher of the Week, annonced on Feb. 19. 
•This was Golling's first time receiving the conference honor. 
•Golling threw two complete games to go 2-0 with 15 strikeouts and allowing one earned run in 12 innings. Golling struck out 11 batters to tie her career-high against Bemidji State.

    SMSU SOFTBALL HISTORY
•2018 Record: 18-26, 10-14 NSIC
•First Year of Softball: 1972
•All-Time Record: 896-825-1 
•All-Time Conf. Record: 341-203-1 
•NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4

      NEXT UP 
•Following its spring trip, SMSU will open NSIC play on March 26 with a twinbill hosting Sioux Falls.